Typographical composing machine



Feb. 28, 1956 ROSSETTO TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 195] ATTORNEVJ Feb. 28, 1956 L. ROSSETTO 2,736,424

TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q L N N 110-120fl o g C E INVENL'OR Feb. 28, 1956 OSSETT 2,736,424

TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 20, 1951 min Feb. 28, 1956 j ROSSETTO 2,736,424

' TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 20, 1951 mu II x i a i: $5) -H &

I i H -1 :1 Min i a IINIENTOR Arm/any United States TYPOGRAPHICAL CQMPQSLNG MACHINE Louis Rossetto, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to Merger:- thaler Linotype Company, a corporation of New York This invention relates to typographical composing machines, such as Linotype machines of the general organization represented in U. S. Letters Patent to O. Mergenthaler, No. 436,532, wherein circulating matrices and spacebands are selectively composed in an assembler elevator by the operation of a keyboard, the elevator raised to line transfer position, the composed line transferred therefrom to the face of a mold for the casting of a type bar or slug, and the matrices and spacebands thereafter separated and returned to their respective storage magazines for'further use. More particularly, the invention relates to high speed machinesv of the type shown and described in the pending application of Louis Rossetto, et al.,. Serial No. 184,072, filed September 9, 1950.

In these machines, the matrices and spacebands are assembled in the elevator by a rotary starwheel and against a yielding. line resistant finger which serves to support the line. endwise. The finger is mounted at the endof an assembler slide, and this slide, although always under spring tension, is acted upon by a friction brake which permits it to move under the influence of the incoming assembled matrices and spacebands but prevents its, return. movement under the influence of the spring.- When the composition of the line has, been completed and the elevator raised, the assembler slide brake is released, and the slide and finger are returned by the spring to line receiving position preparatory to the composition of the next line.

At its receiving end, the assembler elevator is provided with a pair of spring urged retaining pawls which engage behind the end or last matrix assembled withoutinterfering with" the passage of further matrices and spacebands into the elevator. During rapid assembly, however, the incoming matrices and spacebands sometimes force the linercsistant finger toyield a greater distance than the incoming matrices or spacebandsrequire, with the result that the assembled line becomes loose. Since the, starwheel operates against the lower portion. of the matrices and the retaining pawls grip theupper end thereof, it, sometimes happens that the lower end of an. incoming matrix will enter the. assembler too far to permit the starwheel-to pivot the upper end past the retaining pawls. Ordinarily, the next succeeding incoming matrix or spaceband. will both force the preceding matrix into the elevator and fill up the slack in the line, unless of course the improperly assembled matrix happens to be the last one to be assembled, in which case said matrix may be dislodged during the raising of the. elevator or may even jam or obstruct the rise of the elevator and thereby cause. damage to the matrix and parts of the machine. During manual operation of the machine, this condition will generally be detected and corrected-by the operator. without any resulting damage, but when the machine is operated automatically from a tape control unit, and especially when the machine is operating: at high speeds, the chances of such damage are much. greater. As a safet-y feature of such tape control units, the lifting atent O ice power is transmitted: to the elevator through a yielding connection which breaks-when the movement of the elevator is unduly resisted;.nevertheless, some resulting damage is still possible and, in. addition, valuable time is lost until the trouble is. remedied and the power transmitting cor1- nection reestablished.

The present invention is directed to means for straightening upthe end or last matrix of each composed line and insuring thatit is securely positioned Within the assembler during its elevation. Various pusher type devices have been heretofore. proposed, such as the one shown and described in U. SQ Patent No. 1,321,906 to Kennedy, but they have proven generally unsatisfactory at machine speeds of the order of 12. to 15 lines per minute. According to the present invention, however, these functions are satisfactorily performed, even at high speeds, by a supplementary assembler slide brake releasing mechanism which operates momentarily under the control of the elevator raising mechanism of the tape control unit and before any movement. has been actually imparted to the elevator. When the brake. is released, the composed line is squeezed between the line resistant finger of the assembler slide and theretaining. pawls of the elevator, and any: slack in theu line. isthus'removed. If, then, the end matrix in the'line' has not been fully translated by the rotating starwheel past the returning pawls, this initial momentary releasing, operation of the brake will enable the starwheel topivotthe misassembled matrix to the vertical position within-the confines of the pawls. The present invention. therefore achieves the desired result, utilizing much of the. existing mechanism and a minimum of additional parts; and without any possibility of the operating parts interfering with thc passage of the matrices and spacebandsinto. the elevator, or with the rotation of the starwheehor with the raising of the elevator.

In, the machine shownand described in the aboveidentified pending; application, the assembler slide, including the line resistant: finger, and the brake are all mountedonthe front plate of a hinged assembly mechanism which is; adapted;to-be swungto open or inoperative position to provide access to. the interior parts of the mechanism and to the. removable auxiliary reed supporting frame. As. an. -additi0n;al'feature-. of the present invention, therefore, the usualbrake trip linkage, which operates to return the assembler slide and finger after the rise of the elevator, has been modifiedin the form of split linkage arrangement so as, notto-interfere with the opening of the. hinged-(assembly mechanism.

These and-othenfeatures will be fully described in the detailed specification which follows. For a more completeaunderstanding of the machine to which the present improvements. are particularly. applicable, reference may be had to theabove cited application.

Referring to.- the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a: front: elevation of the assembling mechanism of a Linotype machinewith the present invention applied;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of part of a Linotype keyboard equipped with a tape control unit, such as a teletypes'etter unit;

Fig. 3 is a circuit; diagram for the. control mechanism of the supplementary assembler slide brake release;

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary front elevation, of the supplementary brake releasing. mechanism;

Fig 5, is a view. taken alongthe line 55 of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and: 7- are front elevations of the assembler elevator, showing: the operation of the elevator controlled brake releasing: mechanism;

Fig; 8 is 33. top cross-section view of one of the as sembler elevator retaining pawls;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the assembler elevator, showing a line of matrices in course of composition;

Fig. is a side view of part of the brake trip linkage;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the elevator raising mechanism of a teletypesetter tape control unit;

Fig. 12 is a front view of the control cam and switch for operating the brake release; and

Fig. 13 is a greatly enlarged view of part of the switch shown in Fig. 12.

The matrices are individually and selectively released from a magazine (not shown) by the automatic operation of a keyboard A (see Fig. 2) and fall by gravity through a vertically disposed assembler entrance comprising, as usual, a back plate 1, a hinged front plate (not shown) and intermediate partition plates 2 providing vertical channels for guiding the matrices in their fall. The entire assembler entrance as well as other parts later to be described are supported on a hinged frame to which the plate 1 and a lower mounting plate P are attached. As the matrices issue from the entrance channels, they pass onto the upper stretch of ,an inclined continuously moving belt 3, passing around a lower driving pulley 4 and an upper idler pulley 5, whereupon they are directed through a guide chute formed by lower chute rails 6 and an upper chute finger 7 and are discharged in front of a rotating starwheel 8 which stacks them, one by one, in line in an assembler elevator B against a yielding line resistant finger 9. As shown in Fig. 6, the guide chute and starwheel are enclosed behind a pivoted proteetive cover C. The spacebands, on the other hand, are discharged through a chute S and similarly assembled by the starwheel. When the line of composed matrices has been completed, the assembler B is automatically elevated and the composed line transferred to casting position.

The line resistant finger 9 is carried at the end of a long slide 10 which is provided, as usual, with an adjustable stop 11, carrying a finely adjustable set screw 11*, which may be set according to a scale carried on the slide to control the length of the line to be composed. The stop set screw is adapted to strike against the side of a lever 12, which is pivoted to a supporting guide 13 for the assembler slide. The lever 12 is provided with a hand-1e 12 to permit it to be shifted out of the path of the set screw in order to facilitate the removal of matrices from an overset or tight line.

The assembler slide is mounted to move freely to the left under the influence of the incoming matrices and spacebands against the line resistant finger, although its yielding movement is always under the restraint of a clock spring 14. The retrograde movement of the slide to the right under the tension of the clock spring is resisted by a pivotal brake 15 having parallel friction surfaces which grip the upper and lower edges of the slide. When the brake 15 is in a vertical position, the parallel surfaces do not interfere with the slide and, hence, the clock spring 14 is free to move the line resistant finger completely to the right or, at least, as far as the assembled matrices and spacebands allow it to be moved. Normally, however, the brake is acted upon at its lower end by a tension spring 16, attached to the stationary guide 13 and which serves to pivot the brake from the vertical to an inclined locking position (Fig. 1). As the matrices are assembled by the starwheel against the finger 9, the assembler slide is moved along, the friction surfaces of the brake yielding slightly andallowing the slide to travel to the left.

The matrices and spacebands are assembled in the elevator B by the rotating starwheel 8, and they are shoved forward, one after another, by the points of the starwheel and thus composed in line side by side. The casting faces of the matrices are frequently provided with upper and lower characters (e. g., there may be a roman letter and an italic on the same matrix), so that the assembled matrices are supported, as usual, in the elevator by their lower ends at either of two levels by main rails B (Fig. l) or auxiliary rails B (Figs. 6 and 7) and between a back plate 17 and a pivoted front gate 18 (see especially Figs. 6 to 9).

The spacebands, on the other hand, are supported in the elevator by upper projecting cars which ride along the tops of the back plate 17 and front gate 18. A long pivotal spaceband buffer 19 (Fig. 6) serves to cushion the fall when a spaceband is assembled and to lend support to the spacebands when the pivoted front gate 18 is opened.

When properly assembled, the lower ends of the matrices should be properly seated on the supporting rails within (that is, to the left of) small detaining plates 32 (Fig. 6) at the right ends of the said rails, and the upper ends held against displacement to the right by a pair of spring urged retaining or locking pawls 20 (Figs. 8 and 9). The retaining pawls, which are oppositely disposed and carried by the back plate 17 and the front gate 18, are adapted to yield to permit the passage of the matrices and spacebands into the assembler elevator, and when the composed line is completed and the elevator raised, the pawls function to confine the last matrix to be assembled securely within the elevator.

When the machine is operated manually, the assembler elevator B is raised and lowered by means of a hand lever 21 (Fig. 2) which is connected thereto by a long horizontal rockshaft 22, a rock arm 23 mounted at the left hand extremity thereof, a and vertical link 24 pivotally attached to the elevator. When, however, the machine is operated automatically, the hand lever 21 is controlled by power, as for example by an automatic teletypesetter tape control unit, designated generally by the reference character D in Fig. 2. Power for this unit is received from the intermediate shaft of the machine and transmitted to a constantly rotating shaft 25 (see Fig. 11) which, through helical gearing 26 and an automatic clutch 27, periodically operates a shaft 28 for raising the elevator. The shaft 28 carries an elevator lifting cam 29 arranged to actuate the hand lever 21 through a yieldable arm 30 and a cam follower 31. The specific details of the elevator lifting mechanism per se form no part of this invention and are shown and described with certain minor variations in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,006,848, 2,091,286 and 2,163,390. It suffices to say, for present purposes, that the arm 30 is adapted to yield when the movement of the elevator is unduly resisted.

Coming now to the present invention: As heretofore explained, it is essential that the last matrix in a composed line be pushed past the retaining pawls 20 and into the elevator to avoid a serious jam when the assembler is raised. Since the starwheel sometimes fails to do this, the release of the assembler slide brake 15, prior to the raising of the assembler B, is utilized to produce an operation conducive to this desired result by releasing the spring urged assembler slide 10 and thereby forcing the assembled line against the starwheel 8 so that the latter is able to straighten up the end matrix in the line and pivot the upper end thereof within the retaining pawls.

The brake 15 is adapted to be swung to its slide releasing position (indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1) by a pivoted lever 33 from which extends a long horizontal bar 33 carrying a vertical pin 33 at the right end thereof. The operation of the brake releasing lever 33 is accomplished by a rotary tape solenoid 34, mounted on the front of the plate P, and presenting a rotatable arm 35. The lever 33, including the horizontal bar 33 thereof, is carefully balanced in order to permit the spring 16 to maintain the brake 15 in its slide locking position. When the solenoid 34 is energized, however, the arm 35 thereof is moved downwardly in an arcuate path against the pin 33', causing the release of the brake and allowing the clock spring 14 to exert a compacting force on the line through the assembler slide 10 and line resistant finger .9. This force exerted on the line by the finger, as before explained, translates the lower end or toes of the matrices toward and against the detaining plates 32 at the ends of 'the supporting rails B and B taking up all slack in the line, and enables the rotating starwheel to push a misassembled end matrix past the pawls and into the assembler elevator B.

The timed operation of the solenoid 34 is controlled from the automatic tape control unit and, more specifically, from the assembler elevator raising shaft 28 thereof. Thus, the rearmost extremity of said shaft carries a cam (Figs. 2, 3, 11 and 12) which, through a vertically movable pin 41, controls the opening and closing of contacts 42 and 42 of a leaf spring, generally designated 42. Both the pin 41 and the switch 42 are supported by an inverted L-shaped frame 43. As shown in. Fig. 13', the lower contact leaf 42 is separated by insulation material from the frame 43 and from the upper leaf 42 and both contacts are held to the frame. by one or more insulated screws 43*.

The opening and closing of the switch 42 controls the operation of the solenoid. The relationship between the elevator raising cam 29 and the switch control cam 40 can be generally seen in Fig. 12. Normally, the contacts of the switch 42 are held open by the pin 41and1he cam 40. In response to a signal on the control tape, the shaft 28 is rotated through one complete revolution, the raised surface 29 of the cam 29 effecting the elevation of the assembler B. At the initial stage of the cycle, however, and before any actual movement is imparted to the assembler elevator, a depression 40 of the cam 40 permits the pin 41 to descend and close the switch 42 to effect the momentary operation of the brake releasing solenoid 34. Later, the high portion 40 of the cam 40 again opens the switch 42, permitting the solenoid to restore itself to inoperative position, the entire operation taking place before the elevator begins its ascent.

The complete electrical circuit is shown in Fig. 3. A transformer T steps down the voltage source from 110-120 volts A. C. to 24 volts A. C.; a selenium bridge-type rectifier R converts the A. C. to D. C. and acts as the voltage supply for the circuit, current flowing to the solenoid when the switch 42 is closed, as shown.

After the momentary initial brake releasing operation (which straightens up the end matrix in the line and insures its proper position within the elevator B), the elevator is raised, by the means above described, to transport the composed line to transfer position, as shown in Fig. 7, and the assembler slide brake 15 is again released, permitting the spring 14 to return the slide and line resistant finger toward the starwheel in preparation for the composition of the next line after the elevator returns. The elevator rises in vertical guides 44 formed in the stationary front face plate F of the machine frame. As the elevator B nears the transfer position, a small projection 45 thereof (Fig. 7) trips a pivoted yoke-shaped lever 46, which rocks a long centrally pivoted link 47 against a roller 48 of a lever 48, pivoting the latter clockwise about a pivot 49 and permitting a foot 48 of the lever to release the brake 15. The lever 46 is more or less centrally pivoted and mounted on the fixed face plate F. The long link 47, on the other hand, which is rocked in either direction by the arms of the yoke, is mounted on the plate P of the hinged assembly frame, which, as described above, is occasionally opened to provide access to the interior parts.

The split linkage arrangement permits the lever 47 to be swung away from and out of operative engagement with the yoke portion of the lever 46; and incidentally, tapered conical outstanding projections 46 carried on the arms of the yoke and chamfered back edges of the link 47 facilitate the reengagement, or repositioning, of the said link between the yoke arms of the lever 46. Upon the descent of the elevator B, the lever 46 is returned to normal position by an upper projection 50 (see Fig. 7) on the elevator B, and'the brake is again released for further cooperation with the slide 10.

The invention has been shown and described in preferred form, but obviously many variations and modifica tions may be made therein and in its mode of application which will still be comprised within its spirit. For example, in lieu of the electrical connections for operating the lever 33, a mechanical linkage controlled from the cam 40- of the teletypesetter tape control unit would also be suitable. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a typographical composing machine, the combination of a vertically movable assembler elevator wherein selected matrices and spacebands are composed in line, a constantly rotated starwheel for advancing the matrices and spacebands into the elevator, a yieldable assembler slide spring-biased toward the starwheel, a line resistant mounted on the slide for supporting the composed line endwise, an assembler slide brake to normally prevent retrograde movement of the slide, a power operated cam shaft for raising the elevator, and means for releasing the assembler slide brake after a line has been composed to permit the assembler slide through the line resistant to press the composed line yieldingly against the rotating starwheel to straighten up an improperly composed end matrix, said brake releasing means being independent of the composed line and actuated by the power operated cam shaft during the initial period of its rotation and before said shaft starts the raising of the elevator.

2. A combination according to claim 1, including means for restoring the brake to its slide locking position, said restoring means being actuated by the power operated cam shaft after its initial period of rotation but before said shaft starts the raising of the elevator.

3. In a typographical composing machine equipped with an automatic tape control unit, the combination of a vertically movable assembler elevator wherein selected matrices and spacebands are composed in line, a constantly rotated starwheel for advancing the matrices and spacebands into the elevator, a yieldable assembler slide spring-biased toward the starwheel, a line resistant finger mounted on the slide for supporting the composed line endwise, a yieldable assembler slide brake normally frictionally engaged with the assembler slide to prevent retrograde movement but adapted to permit the slide to yield under the influence of composed matrices and spacebands, a tape controlled power operated cam shaft for raising the elevator, and means for releasing the assembler slide brake after a line has been composed to permit the assembler slide through the line resistant to press the composed line yieldingly against the rotating starwheel to straighten up an end matrix, said brake releasing means being independent of the composed line and actuated by the power operated cam shaft during the initial period of its rotation and before said shaft starts the raising of the elevator, and the tape control of the power operated cam shaft being independent of the brake releasing means.

4. A combination according to claim 3, including means for restoring the brake to its slide locking position, said restoring means being actuated by the power operated cam shaft after its initial period of rotation but before said shaft starts the raising of the elevator.

5. A combination according to claim 4, including means controlled by the elevator after it has been raised for again releasing the assembler slide brake to permit the return of the slide to line receiving position.

6. A combination according to claim 5, including means controlled by the elevator after its descent to restore the brake to its slide locking position.

7. A combination according to claim 3, wherein the brake releasing means include a solenoid, an electrical circuit for operating said solenoid, and a switch controlled from the power operated cam shaft for closing said circuit.

8. A combination according to claim 4, wherein the brake releasing means and the brake restoring means include a solenoid, an electrical circuit for operating said solenoid, and a switch controlled from the power operated cam shaft for closing and opening the circuit at the proper times.

9. An automatic tape control unit for a typographical composing machine equipped with a vertically movable assembler elevator, a constantly rotating starwheel for advancing the matrices and spacebands into the elevator, a yieldable assembler slide against which the matrices are composed and which is spring-biased toward the starwheel, and an assembler slide brake, said automatic control unit comprising a power driven shaft, means for starting and stopping said shaft for a single rotation at each cycle of operation, a cam on said shaft for raising the assembler elevator and a second cam on said shaft for momentarily releasing the assembler slide brake, the two said cams being angularly displaced so that during the rotation of the shaft the second cam releases the assembler slide brake before the first cam starts the upward movement of the elevator, whereby the assembler slide is permitted to press the composed line yieldingly against the starwheel to straighten up an improperly composed end matrix.

10. An automatic tape control unit according to claim 9, wherein the power driven shaft is mechanically connected to the assembler elevator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

